Unwelcome visitor
by psychochild88
Summary: Kate(J-Sdaughter)is the new pumpkin princess!When she goes on her first spooking solo, she accidentally brings back someone.what if he's a humanthey can't get him back home? will love bloom? or will she just refrain from killing him?UPDATEDchap5!
1. Chapter 1

Hello people! Yes, I actually broke down and wrote Nightmare Before Christmas fan fiction. I told myself I wasn't going to, but I got together with a friend of mine that didn't want to be named (*coughcough* Cat! *coughcough*) and we came up with this really cool idea while in World History. I know my teacher would kill me if she found out that we were writing stories in class . . . oh well! Everyone's dead in Halloween town anyway! So let's get crackin! Shall we . . . ?  
  
Disclaimer: Okay, so we don't own NBC (hahhaah!!!) or Jack . . . we own Kate though! She is of our own design!!! Mwahaahahahhhaha!! *cough* continue . . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 1  
  
A teenage girl sat atop a grassy, spiral hill. She gazed at the clouds, enjoying the cool air. The wind blew through and rustled her waist- length red hair, causing it to brush gently over her skeletal face. She absently held it back from her face with a long, pale hand, running the other through the grass.  
'Tonight's the big night . . .' she thought in anticipation. There came a barking sound from behind her and a warm nose touched her cheek. The girl turned to see a little see-through ghost dog. Smiling, she patted him gently on the head. (A/N don't ask me how, but she did! It is Halloween Town, right?)  
  
"Kate!" called a deep voice. Kate turned to see a skeleton man standing at the foot of the hill. She stood up, took a deep breath and walked quickly down to him. He put a long, lanky arm around her slim shoulders.  
  
"Don't worry, you'll be great!"  
  
Kate took in a shaky breath and smiled up at her father.  
  
"Besides, you can't mess up that badly." he continued.  
  
A skeleton grin lit up his face.  
  
"You're the Pumpkin Princess!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
They walked back into town, where a tall, stitch-work woman came up to her and embraced her.  
  
"Don't worry sweetheart, you'll do just fine," she said, adjusting the lapels of Kate's pinstriped wraparound jacket. But despite her own words; tears swelled in her big eyes. She was worried about her daughter, though she wouldn't admit it to her.  
  
"Relax Sally," the father said, holding his wife to his side as Kate walked over to her friends. "It's her first time flying solo, and I have every confidence in her."  
  
Sally nodded and leaned against him.  
  
"I know Jack, I just have a weird feeling about this . . ."  
  
Jack looked down at her concernedly.  
  
"Premonition?"  
  
She shook her head and then smiled, "No, just motherly jitters . . . I guess."  
  
Kate walked over to a young witch, a young batboy, and she-mummy.  
  
"Hey guys!" she said, waving to them.  
  
They waved back enthusiastically.  
  
"How are you doing, Kate? Nervous?" asked Aimum, the mummy. Kate shrugged and tried to act like she wasn't. But truth be told, she was shaking in her shoes.  
  
"Why should I? All teens get to go spooking; I'm no different. You guys will be able to go next year," she replied nonchalantly, fiddling with her jacket ties.  
  
"Yes, thatz true." Lanny, the batboy, pointed out. "But you getz to go thiz year!"  
  
Nagret, the witch, bounced up and down happily.  
  
"Not only that! But you get to have one town, all to yourself!"  
  
"And the rest of Halloween town will be watching you!"  
  
"And you'll be all alone in that part of the Human World!"  
  
Somehow, this didn't make her feel _any_ better.  
  
"Thanks guys, uh, I think they're calling me up to . . .uh . . . get ready!" she stammered, getting away from her "oh-so-gracious" friends.  
  
She walked up to the Town Hall and leaned up against a pillar.  
  
"Kate! Come on down!" announced the Mayor with his megaphone.  
  
The crowd burst into applause as she walked up to the Mayor and her parents.  
  
"Okay! Now, it's your time! Kate Skellington, The Pumpkin Princess, will go on her first Solo Halloween Trip!"  
  
Another round of applause broke out and Kate gulped.  
  
'Here we go . . .'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!"  
  
Kate grinned and dropped out of the tree she was hanging upside down from. Waiting in the shadows for a moment, she watched contentedly as the group of teenagers ran away from her, screaming. She brushed off her clothes and combed her hand through her hair with her long fingers, smiling to herself. She knew that everyone in Halloween town was watching her through the well.  
  
'Dad is probably beaming right now.' She thought, moving through the shadows to another dark alley. 'Let's see . . . five groups of teens, two men, three women, twelve little kids, and one person in a really lame skeleton suit. I think that's probably enough.'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Obviously the people at home thought so too . . .  
  
"See that! That's Jack's daughter all right!"  
  
"True heir to the Pumpkin throne!"  
  
"We should start planning the reception party!" The Mayor exclaimed, throwing a rock into the well to cut the connection with the human world.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Kate crept through a bunch of bushes, heading back to the graveyard.  
  
"I can't believe that! What a great night! I feel so alive!"  
  
She pumped her arms up, to show the world her mighty strength.  
  
"I didn't know that it would feel this good to go solo!"  
  
She cried out in simple glee and ran through the trees to the top of a small hill. Once there, she looked around at her surroundings.  
  
"I am invincible! I am unbeatable! I am unsurpassable! I- . . ." she paused, taking in her whereabouts, " . . . -am lost."  
  
Kate bit her lip, where was she? And more importantly, where was the cemetery?  
  
"Oh frizzle-frat!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms and rubbing them harshly, as a cold wind had swept through rather suddenly.  
  
Composing herself, she walked back down the hill and further into the town.  
  
'More than likely, The Cemetery is on the other side of town.' She thought while walking down the back-ways. Everyone had gone inside for the night, so she was safe from being seen by any of the humans. After about a half an hour of reading signs, she found her way down to the Cemetery. The front gates never seemed so inviting before in her life.  
  
"Finally . . ."  
  
She walked up to the gate and walked on through. Looking around for a moment, she saw someone standing by the tall oak in the middle of the yard. Immediately, she crouched down behind a tombstone and made her way soundlessly toward the dark figure and the tree. She climbed into the limbs of the oak to get a better picture of who she was about to scare. After making the trip up, over, and through the branches, she finally found herself close enough to pounce on her unsuspecting victim. Coiling her springs, she reached down to grab onto the person, and heard a sickening _CRACK!_  
  
The branch she had been using as leverage had snapped under her weight, sending her falling to land in a heap on the ground at the base of the tree.  
  
"Oh, yeah, _that_ was dignified!" she whispered harshly to herself as she painfully pushed up off the ground, adjusting the angle of her head. She happened to glance up and found herself face to . . . face with a faceless blob.  
  
"Boo!" it declared in a rasping whisper.  
  
"Ahhhh!" Kate replied, nearly jumping out of her skin. She put a hand over her heart. It was currently beating at approximately five million miles a minute, which couldn't be healthy . . .  
  
"What in the Seven Holidays did you do that for?!" she demanded, still a little on edge. She eyed the tall, um, _thing_, curiously. Kate sincerely had no idea how it talked.  
  
"Jeez! Don't get your hair in a knot!" he (it had to be a he) retorted from somewhere in the mound of flesh. Kate balked, and then realized that he was raining on her parade.  
  
"Hey? What are you doing here anyway?! This is my spooking!"  
  
If the mound had eyes, it would have blinked in confusion. He shouldered a large bag nervously and shifted his weight.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry I startled you, I thought you- . . ."  
  
Kate shook her head and waved her hands in defeat.  
  
"Okay, okay, forget it, whatever! Let's just go home."  
  
She scanned the tops of the tombstones and saw the angel head. A grin broke across her features as she headed towards it. "Blob" followed right behind. She opened up the heavy stone doors to the grave and started to enter when she felt that "I'm being watched" sensation. She turned around and put a hand on her hip.  
  
"Ya comin?" she asked, then turned around without even waiting for a response.  
  
The "Blob" seemed to shrug and followed after her. It couldn't be anything _that _ bad.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hahahaahahhahahah!!! How is THAT for a chapter! Oh! Yes! Uh huh! We rock! *gives Cat a high five*  
  
Denra: well I guess we'll see you soon!  
  
Cat: Enjoy, random people!  
  
Denra: *pats Cat's back* It's okay Cat, we're gonna find you some of that help real soon, REAL soon . . . 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 ~ An Unwelcome Visitor  
  
A/n: Hello all, Cat here! I wasn't going to write Nightmare-fic either... but I had a doodle, and Denra turned it into a character, and, well, once we had a character the story had to happen. So now it's my turn to write a chapter! Fear me! (insert maniacal laughter) *erk* *cough* Well. Anyway. I'll get on with the writing before Denra kills me . . . but first . . .  
  
(Dis)claimer: We own NBC. It is sole property of us. (hey . . . we can dream, right?) All jokes aside, though (hah!), Kate is copyright us. Mess with Kate and DIE.  
  
Kate: Yeah! *scary face* Wait . . . . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 2  
  
When they emerged from the tombstone, the blob-monster stopped dead. His featureless head turned slowly, taking in the woods, the pumpkin patch, the spiraling hill silhouetted against the overlarge moon, the graveyard where they stood, and finally the town itself, with its jutting towers and strangely shaped buildings. Then he rounded on Kate.  
  
"Where are we?" he demanded.  
  
Kate shot a glance over her shoulder, before stopping and turning to face him.  
  
"Home. Y'know, Halloweentown . . .? The place we live the *other* 364 days of the year?" She looked at him exhaustedly when he still didn't seem to grasp the concept; she scratched the top of her head.  
  
"You got amnesia or something?  
  
Now it was the blob's turn to be upset. "You *insane* or something?" he replied.  
  
"Who the heck are you?"  
  
"You really do have amnesia! I'm *only* the Pumpkin Princess. Kate Skellington. Remember me?" Kate replied proudly  
  
"You really are insane! Okay, this is definitely not funny anymore. Take off the mask!"  
  
Kate blinked at him skeptically. "I'm not wearing a mask."  
  
"That thing!" He stabbed a finger at her face. "Take *that thing* off!"  
  
"Take off my face?"  
  
"Look, this is really not a difficult concept," the blob-monster sighed. "Like this." And with that, he reached up a hand and pulled his face off!  
  
Kate took an involuntary step backwards, fighting the urge to scream, and nearly tripped over a small gravestone. A hooded mask had come away in his hand, revealing fair skin and a relatively normal-proportioned face.  
  
"Calm," she told herself. "I am calm. I am not screaming. I am calm. Not screaming. Screaming is not my friend. Calm."  
  
"What's with you?" the former blob-monster inquired, not altogether politely, circling around her to face his back towards the cemetery gate.  
  
"You!" Kate screeched, "You're a- a human!"  
  
The human raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Um, yeah. What were you expecting?"  
  
Kate sighed, shaking her head. "Look," she said, gesturing at her face. "You still want me to take this off?"  
  
The human nodded vehemently.  
  
"Have it your way . . ." She placed her long hands under her jawline and popped off her head. "Happy?" she asked from her perch on her own hands.  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"  
  
The human gave a loud scream and took off running- coincidentally, straight toward the town. Kate jammed her head back onto her neck and pelted after him. Once they had cleared the gravestones, she took a flying leap and tackled him to the ground. They rolled down the path, finally coming to a halt just outside the jagged town gate. Realizing where they were, Kate rolled the human to the side.  
  
"Listen up, you," she hissed, holding a handful of shirt collar in one hand and holding the other one over his mouth. "You are going back to the human world. Right now." She realized that she was on top of him, prohibiting him from moving anywhere, so she got up, seized his wrist and proceeded in dragging him back up the hill, toward the graveyard.  
  
"No objections here," he replied, once he got reoriented and caught his breath. "But just out of idle curiosity, why's it such a big deal?"  
  
Kate stopped in her tracks and whirled to face him. "Number one rule of spooking," she burst out, "always . . . no, NEVER let a human follow you back!" She continued dragging. "Ohhh, if my dad finds out about this, he'll disown me. Or kill me. Or both!"  
  
"Oh, come on. He wouldn't really . . ."  
  
"You don't know my dad," Kate told him, not looking at him. "He's the Pumpkin King, and he's five times scarier than I am."  
  
"You fell out of a tree," the human pointed out, ever so helpfully.  
  
"Okay, fifty times scarier, but that isn't the point!" By then, they had reached the graveyard. "The point is that you have to go back *now*." She pointed him towards the correct tombstone and gave him a shove. "It's that one. Go through it."  
  
The human made his way over to the tombstone. But just as he reached it, a deep bell pealed from somewhere in the town.  
  
"Hey," he called, pulling open the door, "what gives? There's just a little room in here!"  
  
"Oh, NO!" Kate exclaimed. She vaulted over several smaller gravestones, slammed the door shut, and yanked it open again. Inside, there was just a small mausoleum with a stone coffin and two small benches. She slammed the door and opened it again. Slam. Open. Slam. Open. Each time, she wound up with the same result.  
  
"Um, what are you doing now?" the human asked.  
  
Kate closed the door and sank to the ground. "That was the stroke of midnight," she explained, despairing. "That means Halloween is officially over. Which means the passage to the human world is closed."  
  
"So I'm stuck here?" The human yelped.  
  
"Sh! Not so loud! Yes, that means you're stuck here. Which means *I'm* stuck hiding you until the next major holiday . . . um . . . "  
  
"Thanksgiving," he supplied. "Um, not to bother you or anything, but there are a bunch of ghosts and stuff coming through that gate."  
  
Kate sprang to her feet, almost in a panic. "It's the returning celebration! Where can we hide you?" She spotted his mask lying on the ground, snatched it up, and jammed it over his head. "Keep your mask on! Blend in with the crowd when they get up here, don't talk to anyone, and most importantly no screaming!"  
  
"It's on backwards!" the human protested. "I can't-"  
  
"Quiet!" Kate hissed. "Here they come!" She shoved him behind a gravestone and greeted the approaching procession with her scariest face. Despite her rising anxiety, she couldn't help feeling a few stabs of excitement as she climbed into the traditional scarecrow costume. She had practiced for months to get the fire dance right, and she was determined not to let anything- including the arrival of a measly human- wreck her performance. After all, she was the Pumpkin Princess, and she had her pride!  
  
All the same, though, she tried to keep an eye on the faceless figure as the ghastly parade wound through the graveyard, launching enthusiastically into song.  
  
"This is Halloween! This is Halloween!" Kate hummed along happily to herself, peering through the holes in the jack-o-lantern "head." She watched the vampires join the procession, nearly colliding with the human, who appeared to be feeling his way along blindly, following the noise. Kate allowed herself a little smirk at his expense. If she played her cards right, she could amuse herself for the next month, a period where she would normally come down with a bad case of post-holiday apathy.  
  
The parade neared the Town Square; its numbers swelled greatly, having collected all of the citizens of Halloweentown. Kate could vaguely see her parents in the front, riding on top of the mayor's hearse. The song began to build to a climax.  
  
"Everyone hail to the Pumpkin Princess!"  
  
Recognizing her cue, Kate leaned down from the wooden horse and snatched up the lighted torch that someone held out, deftly setting her costume ablaze. She spun and flailed, mentally gauging the distance between herself and the well. It wouldn't do to jump and miss, like she had done so many times in practice. Since it was next to impossible to see through the flames dancing over her, she ticked off the time to herself. Sure enough, just as she reached the end of her countdown, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the well. She took careful aim and somersaulted through the air, splashing headfirst into the fountain. Once under the surface, she quickly scrambled out of the scarecrow costume and rose slowly, just as the song reached its triumphant last note.  
  
The sound of cheering and wild laughter filled Kate's ears. She shook the last few drops of water from her hair, grinning madly. The dance had gone off without a hitch! She surveyed the crowd; nearly bursting with pride- and suddenly her euphoria vanished.  
  
The human was nowhere to be seen.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Fwahahahaaa! I am EVIL! You're just going to have to wait until Denra does her next chapter... which, come to think of it, is going to be very soon if not immediately, 'cause Denra writes a heck of a lot faster than me.  
  
D: *smirk*  
  
C: Well, anyway, see ya next chapter! *waves madly* 


	3. Chapter 3

Hello all! We are BACK! So you had better be ready for the worst writing you have ever seen in your entire life.  
  
Cat: Hey, we're not THAT bad . . .  
  
Kate: Actually . . . yes, you are.  
  
Denra:* pout* oh thanks! LOTS of love in _this _room.  
  
K: I mean, the story line is a little . . . odd.  
  
C: Hey! Shut up! If the story line is odd, then we're odd! And since we're odd then you're odd, because we made you and in the process of making you, we have certain privileges and rights to you that appertain in making you and in your creation.  
  
D&K: *blink* *blinkblink*  
  
C: Shut up! *pout* It made sense in my head . . .  
  
ANYWAY!!!! On with the story!  
  
Disclaimer: We do NOT own NBC or anything appertaining to its creation. But we have Jack locked away in our closet and we are NOT letting him go.  
  
Continue.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Kate glanced around frantically. Great, not only had she brought a HUMAN into Halloween town, breaking one of the BIGGEST rules in the book, but now she had lost him. Jumping down from the fountain's edge, she searched around desperately with her eyes, all the while thanking the creatures that congratulated her on her "spectacular performance".  
  
'Alright,' she thought, while scanning the top of the crowd, 'Where did you go?' She finally spotted a blob of flesh stumbling down the way to one of the smaller alleyways. A sigh escaped her mouth as she made to intercept him before he got himself, and her, into any more trouble.  
  
"Princess! Kate!"  
  
Before the teen could so much as move an inch, the Mayor cut her off.  
  
"You did a wonderful job tonight! You're a true credit to the name of Skellington! I bet your father is so proud! Where is he anyhow? I'll go and get him, you stay right here!" He said, cheerfully bouncing away, finally giving Kate enough room to see through the crowd again. The Mayor's annoying little hat had gotten in the way of her sight for a second, but she didn't think that would be a big prob-  
  
Kate hurriedly looked around again, horror stricken.  
  
She had lost the human.  
  
Again!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The human teen stumbled blindly through, what he perceived, to be the streets. Suddenly a thought hit him, why not turn the mask _around_?  
  
'You're REALLY on top of things, aren't you?' he remarked to himself as he turned the mask around with his hands so that he could see the one-way eyehole. Finally being able to see, he still managed to collide with three small children. Two boys and a girl; the girl had on a witch costume and a tall hat, while the boys were dressed as a little devil and a skeleton.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry." He said to the children, then remembered that he wasn't supposed to talk to anyone. But then again, they were only children . . .  
  
"Watch where you're going." The devil threatened.  
  
"Sorry," he repeated, then got an idea, "Hey, do you know where- ohh, what's her name? She said her name, what the heck was it . . . well, she's tall, red hair, skeleton face- you know where she is?"  
  
The children blinked at him from behind their masks.  
  
"You mean Kate?" the little skeleton prompted, earning a sharp poke in the ribs from the witch.  
  
"Yeah, her!" the human agreed, relieved.  
  
Three sly grins appeared on the trick-or-treaters faces.  
  
"Sure!" said the witch.  
  
"We know where she is!" agreed the skeleton.  
"But not just anyone can see her . . . who are you?"  
  
The human hesitated, then replied, "Blob."  
  
"Lock!"  
  
"Shock!"  
  
"And Barrel!" the devil, witch and skeleton said in order.  
  
Shock grinned, "Do you want directions?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"Well," Lock started, "You can go through the gate-"  
  
"Past the Cemetery." Interjected Barrel.  
  
"Through the thorn patch." Added Shock.  
  
"Over the hill!"  
  
"Around the bend!"  
  
"Past the swamp!"  
  
"Across the bridge-!"  
  
"Whoa, whoa!" the human said, stopping them, "That's too complicated!"  
  
Evil grins decorated their features.  
  
"Then let us show you!" they cried in unison, stuffing him in an oversized candy bag.  
  
"Ahhh!' He cried, trying to get free to no avail. "Let me out!"  
  
Kate dropped down in their path as they made their way to the streets.  
  
"Going somewhere?" she demanded; angry look on her face. Shock smiled as she looked up at the taller girl.  
  
"Hello your Princesship, we weren't going anywhere special."  
  
"Just back home." Agreed Barrel.  
  
"Nothing can be wrong with that." Added Lock.  
  
Kate stood towering over them, glaring down at them.  
  
"I know what you have in the bag, now let him go."  
  
Shock shook her head, "I don't think you are in the position to boss us around. We know something that you don't want anyone to know."  
  
"What would that be?" Kate demanded, unwavering.  
  
"We can smell a human from a mile away, you think the stupid mask could fool us?" Lock smirked, kicking the trick-or-treat bag. A muffled yelp came from it.  
  
Kate crouched down to their level, face to face.  
  
"What do you want?" she said, knowing they were going to haggle.  
  
"Nothing much," began Barrel.  
  
"Just keep Jack off our backs . . ." Lock continued.  
  
"And this will stay our little secret." Finished Shock.  
  
There had to be something they were up to, to ask such a question. But without solid evidence, she wasn't about to risk her neck; she sighed and nodded reluctantly.  
  
"Okay, fine."  
  
"Great!" they cried in unison, leaving the bag and running down the street toward their tree house. Kate shook her head and quickly untied the knot on the bag. The boy emerged from it and ripped off his mask.  
  
"I thought I was going to die in there!" he gasped exasperatedly. There was a sudden herd of people that were just around the corner. Thank the stars that they were right outside her gate! Grabbing his hand, they ran up the door and into the house. He barely had time to take in the scene of the house before he was rushed away up the spiral stairs case, into a tower and up to Kate's bedroom. Taking in his surroundings at last, he found that the tower had a three-sixty wall to wall window, and dark red curtains. There was a large wardrobe in on the far wall and several bookcases on the other. The bed was a fair sized canopy bed, draped in black and rich, dark red. A small bat mobile hung by the window. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short by Kate.  
  
"Look Human, you can't run off like that! You can get yourself in some SERIOUS danger. Not to mention get me into a mountain of trouble!"  
  
He threw his mask to the floor and put on a stern face.  
  
"Look, . . . um, Kate, I have a name! 'Human' is my species type, NOT my name! And if you call me that one more time I will personally go down stairs and announce to everyone who I am and WHY I am here."  
  
Kate growled, then took a deep breath, "How about this idea? You don't go outside and get killed, and I don't get in trouble. It's a win-win situation."  
  
He thought about it for a second.  
  
"Here's another plan. I go outside, DON'T get attacked, and you DO get in trouble."  
  
Kate was just about to tell him he would definitely get attacked it they found out he was a human, and even possibly eaten, when she heard a dog barking and the sound of footsteps coming up her stairs.  
  
"Quick!" she gasped, "It's my dad! Under the bed!"  
  
The human dove under the bed and snatched his mask off the ground, lying perfectly still behind the dark coverlet.  
  
Jack came up the stairs and smiled warmly at his daughter.  
  
"Kate!" he exclaimed, taking her by the shoulders, "You did magnificently!"  
  
"Thanks Dad." She replied, her eyes trying not to watch as Zero sniffed under the bed. He smelled something different and Kate could hear the human muttering under a whisper:  
  
"Good dog! Nice dog! _Quiet_ dog!"  
  
Kate was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even hear her dad until he waved a hand in front of her face.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I said, it smells like human in here," her father commented.  
  
"Ohhh. That." She thought desperately for a cover-up, "That's just me, I mean I have been around them all night." She made a show of sniffing the lapel of her suit.  
  
"Phew! I gotta wash this thing!"  
  
"Kate, are you alright?" Jack asked worriedly, concern on his features. Kate laughed and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I'm just really tired . . ."  
  
"Well, get your rest, you've earned it!"  
  
Zero began barking.  
  
"Shush Zero!" Jack reprimanded, calling the dog to follow him downstairs. After a moment's hesitation, the ghost dog obeyed and followed his master. Once they were safely downstairs and out of the loft Kate collapsed backward onto the bed and began thumping her skull with her fist, asking herself how she ever got herself into all of this.  
  
"Mark." Said a voice beside her, breaking the silence.  
  
"What?" she demanded, looking up at the human.  
  
"Well, you didn't ask for my name, so I gave it to you. My name is Mark."  
  
For the first time that night, she actually took the time to take in his appearance. He was her height (which was surprising, since she was tall) and his head with topped with raven-black hair. His skin was pale, contrasting his dark hair. But what really caught her interest were his bright green eyes. They were a color she had never seen before, especially not in Halloween Town, and it intrigued her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I know, evil spot to stop! But all you who read me often know that I am indeed EVIL!  
  
C: Heyy, I'm evil too! *pout*  
  
D: Shut up, I'm laughing evilly here! Mwahahahahahahahha!!! *cough*  
  
C: You shouldn't do that.  
  
D: Shut up.  
  
K: You two are insane!  
  
C&D: We know! *evil grins* 


	4. Chapter 4

A/n: Hello all! Cat here again.  
  
(audience: *groan*)  
  
Ohhh, shut up. Anyway. We got reviews! Wow! Thanks, Silent Reaper! We actually do have several pictures of Kate (drawn by yours truly. . hehe) and some pictures of Mark too (drawn by Denra. Cuz she can draw guys and I can't. o.O) Right now we're in the process of looking for some way to put them up. . . anyone know a good place?  
  
As for the *rest* of you people . . . review! It is not a difficult concept, people.  
  
Denra: Heyyy, do I get to say *anything* in this note?  
  
Cat: *blink* You just did.  
  
D: . . . . . .Oh. Yeh, that works .  
  
C: Anyway. Now that we've wasted enough of your time, on with the chapter! Brace yerselves, peoples, 'cause this be a long one . . . . . . . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The first rays of sunlight streamed through an open section of the dark red curtains. The door of the large wardrobe stood ajar, and faint snores could be heard from within. The canopy bed, however, was empty.  
  
Up the spiral stairs came Kate in purple pajamas, fuzzy slippers, and a voluminous black bathrobe. She eased the trap door shut with one slippered foot, then hurried to her bed and emptied the pockets of her robe onto it. Several small bottles with spray stoppers landed on the covers. Kate shrugged the robe off and hung it on a post of the bed. She marched over to the wardrobe .  
  
"Move." she commanded to the human boy inside, flinging both doors open. "I need to get at my clothes."  
  
Mark shifted slightly, without opening his eyes.  
  
"I had a really weird dream," he mumbled sleepily.  
  
Kate rolled her . . . eyesockets . . . pulled her black dress off the hanger and slammed the doors closed. She heard some muffled pounding coming from the wardrobe, but ignored it as she changed her clothes and carefully ran a brush through her hair. That done, she grabbed a pillow, walked calmly back over to the wardrobe, flung the doors open and whacked him over the head with it.  
  
"Wake up!" she yelled, "We're disinfecting."  
  
He hauled himself out and rubbed his head, "We're what?"  
  
"Disinfecting." Kate repeated. She selected a dark green bottle, shoved Mark aside and sprayed a foul smelling green mist into the wardrobe.  
  
"Ugh! That *reeks*! You're *dis*infecting?!"  
  
"Yup!" Kate said, spritzing the green mist under her bed. "It's Frog's Breath, great for covering up odors. I stole it from my mom's stash."  
  
Mark made a face, "Why?!"  
  
"Cause you smell!" Kate laughed and sprayed a cloud of the Frog's Breath right in his face.  
  
He spluttered and coughed horribly.  
  
"Well, I do NOW!"  
  
"You *would* think that!" Kate retorted, filling the air with noxious fumes.  
  
Mark coughed relentlessly, "Can't . . . breathe!"  
  
"Hm. Too bad. The bottles empty anyway. Where is the Worm's Wart?" she sorted through the bottles, selected one and sprayed. A white skull shaped plume of smoke emerged. Mark reeled and nearly collapsed.  
  
"Oops! No, that's Deadly Nightshade . . . Worm's Wart, Worm's Wart . . . Aha! Here you are!" She picked up a smoky blue bottle and sprayed sickeningly sweet fumes around the room.  
  
"You're making it worse!" Mark managed. He staggered to a window and flung it open.  
  
"Oxygen! Oxygen!" he gasped, taking deep breath of "fresh" air.  
  
"Idiot!" Kate grabbed him from behind and dragged him away, slamming the window and whisking the curtains closed.  
  
"Someone could have seen you! Stay AWAY from the windows!" She warned, lighting some candles.  
  
"But I couldn't breathe!" he protested.  
  
"See that's the great thing about being dead." Kate smirked, "I don't have to worry about trivial things like breathing!"  
  
"Well, I do!" Mark retorted, "So unless you want to deal with a dead body, no more spraying, okay?"  
  
"I have to cover you up somehow!" Kate snapped, "I'll hunt down some incense, or something!"  
  
"Fine," Mark grumbled, "I guess I can deal wi- my backpack!" he suddenly burst out.  
  
"What the-?"  
  
"I had a backpack with me!" he explained frantically. "I think I must have left it in that grave yard!"  
  
Kate blinked and then shook her head, "Whoa, which one?"  
  
"Which one what? Which backpack? I only have one!"  
  
"No!" Kate said exasperatedly, "which *graveyard*!"  
  
"Oh. This one?"  
  
Kate groaned, "Great! A human that stinks, AND leaves his stuff all over Halloween town! What next? Hmph! Well I guess I'll go get it . . ."  
  
She went to open the trap door, muttering darkly to herself.  
  
"Wait! What about me?" Mark asked.  
  
"*You*, " Kate replied, giving him the death glare, "Are going to stay here! Don't talk, don't move around, don't even BREATHE loud!" She descended the stairs and slammed the trap door behind her.  
  
"Hi Mom, hi Dad, bye Mom, bye Dad, I'm going to the graveyard!" Kate rattled off, tearing through the spacious living room and out the front door.  
  
"Wait, why-- what are you-- bye," Jack called after his daughter's back. Sally smothered a snicker behind her hand. The skeleton man blinked at his wife. ". . .What?"  
  
"Ohh, nothing," Sally replied, still giggling a little. "You know you used to do the same thing?"  
  
"Oh, I did not. . ." He looked up at the ceiling, feigning innocence.  
  
~*~Over at the graveyard. . .~*~  
  
"Where in the name of Dracula is that stupid backpack?!" Kate fumed, kicking a gravestone in frustration. "OW! Smart, Kate, real smart."  
  
The Mayor's voice blared across the town over the megaphone. "Attention, all citizens! A large backpack has been found in the graveyard. If it belongs to you, please come to the Town Hall and claim it, because it's starting to get on our ner- ouch!" Three very familiar giggles were heard, followed by a loud crash.  
  
Kate hid her face in her hands. "Perfect," she groaned. Resigned, she stalked off toward Town Square.  
  
"It's mine!" she exclaimed, flinging the doors open. All heads in the town hall turned. There was total silence. Panting slightly, she walked between the pews to the stage, where the mayor had apparently been chatting with a tall young man with pale green skin. He was dressed impeccably in a dark red, high-collared shirt, black pants and shiny black gloves. His pointed face, normally in a wicked smirk, was now staring at Kate in astonishment.  
  
"Yeah. . . um. . . . hi, Mayor. Hi, Tom." She gestured at the backpack with a thumb. "That, um, that's mine." If her skeletal face could have blushed, she would have been doing so violently.  
  
Tom was the first to recover. "What's in that, anyway?" he inquired. "We didn't think we ought to open it, but. . ."  
  
"It's a, um, surprise!" Kate stammered. "Yeah, that's it. A. . . post- Halloween surprise." She mentally kicked herself for her inability to think on her feet.  
  
"What's in it? What's in it?"  
  
"The suspense is *killing* us!" two witches present piped up, rather melodramatically.  
  
"I can't tell you, 'cause it's a surprise, and I can't. . . finish it. . . until I get it back. So I'll take that back now." She bent over, seized the straps, and tugged. The backpack lifted maybe a centimeter off the ground, then fell heavily back to the floor.  
  
"Oof!" Kate grunted. "What does he keep in here, bricks?" she hissed under her breath.  
  
"What was that?" Tom said, leaning forward.  
  
"Nothing!" she replied quickly. "Just, you know, talking to myself. I'll be going now. . ." She hauled the backpack up again and dragged it out of the hall. "Oh, heavy. . . heavy. . ." she muttered to herself, ignoring the strange stares she was receiving.  
  
For the second time that day, the Pumpkin King blinked in surprise at his daughter.  
  
"Surprise," Kate gasped by way of exclamation, hauling the backpack across the living room and up the stairs. Jack winced as it caught the edge of the carpet, causing a tall shelf with several large, ornate picture frames on it to wobble dangerously. He darted across the room to steady the shelf. Sally snickered again. Jack sighed. . . it was shaping up to be a loooong day.  
  
Kate dropped the backpack with a thud next to the wardrobe, making the entire room shake slightly. "There," she said in a low, dangerous voice. "I got your stupid backpack. And, I might add, I made a complete idiot of myself in the process. I hope you're happy." She flounced across the room, snatched her latest book off the bookshelf, and flopped into an armchair. There was a long pause.  
  
"Absorbing book?" Mark asked finally. Kate made a vague noise in reply. Another pause.  
  
"I didn't know people in Halloweentown read books upside down," he commented.  
  
"Quiet, you," she snapped, glaring at him over the top- or bottom- of the book. "What's in that thing, anyway?"  
  
"Nothin' much. Just . . . stuff," he replied.  
  
Kate got up and walked casually back across the room. Suddenly, she darted forward and pulled the bag away from him. The zipper opened to reveal several sets of spare clothes, a large lunchbox, and a ridiculous number of books. She picked one up. "What the heck are all these for?"  
  
"Don't touch it!" Mark snatched the book away from her and shoved it back into the backpack. "They're journals. If you must know."  
  
"Why, in the Seven Holidays, were you carrying *all* of them around?" Mark was silent. Kate examined the contents of the pack again. Something in her mind clicked, and she looked up at him, a puzzled look on her face.  
  
"You were running away."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Cat: Hehe. See, I can be EVIL too! *sticks tongue out*  
  
D:*shakes head* amateur . . .  
  
C: HEY! I resent that! I've been writing fanfic for. . . um. . . *counts on fingers* . . . .A long time.  
  
D: *shakes head some more* Why do I do this again?  
  
Kate: Cause. . . I'm cool.  
  
C&D: You stay out of this!  
  
K: Fine. Be that way. *pouts*  
  
D:Hey! That's MY line!. . .  
  
C: Okay, yeah. . . let's stop before someone gets hurt here. See ya next chapter, peoples. 


	5. Chapter 5

*Evil cackle*  
  
*from within the shadows*  
  
Now you are mine! I have you in the palm of my hand, and you will all suffer the consequences to reading this chapter! I have the power!!! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!  
  
*bonk*  
  
Denra: OW!  
  
Kate: You were doing it again *holding rubber mallet*.  
  
D: *sheepish grin* Sorry . . .  
  
K: *to readers* I must apologize, she had too much candy today.  
  
D: CANDY?!?! WHERE!?!?! *searches frantically around room*  
  
C: I had nothing to do with this, this is all Denra.  
  
*in background* : CANDY!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!  
  
(Continue . . .)  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"You were running away."  
  
Mark seemed uneasy about the chosen subject.  
  
"Yeah, so?" he demanded, zipping his backpack back up and placing it roughly in the wardrobe. Kate could see that it was a touchy subject for him, but the question was, *why* had he been running away?  
  
"Why were you running away?" She asked softly, trying to catch his glance but did not succeed.  
  
"It's a long story, and I'd rather not talk about it." He replied, though it had sounded harsher then he had intended.  
  
Kate frowned and turned away.  
  
"Fine, I don't care."  
  
Silence filled the room and weighed down upon its two occupants. One, who wanted to talk, but couldn't; and the other, who wanted to know, but wouldn't ask.  
  
It was Mark who broke the silence.  
  
"Um, Kate?" he called, rather sheepishly.  
  
"What?"  
  
He looked unsure whether to ask his question, so Kate sighed heavily and pulled it out of him.  
  
"Come on, spill. What is it?"  
  
"Um," he started awkwardly, "Can I use your bathroom?"  
  
Kate's jaw almost dropped at the thought, how were they going to deal with that problem? As she pondered this thought, Mark panicked.  
  
"You *do* have a bathroom, right?" his voice showing his anxiety.  
  
Kate waved him off, "Of course we have a bathroom. The whole problem is who to get you downstairs without anyone noticing . . . Hmmm . . ."  
  
"Well, I could use it mostly at night, when everyone's asleep." Mark suggested, "But right now, I *really* need to go. I haven't been in two days!"  
  
Kate nodded; slightly annoyed at all the problems he was causing, and grabbed her huge bathrobe. Then thought otherwise, threw it over her shoulder and went to her closet to get another item of clothing. This was a long, billowing, deep purple cloak. It reached down past her feet and had a hood to go with it. She spun around and threw it over Mark's head.  
  
"Hey!" He complained, finding his way through the fabric.  
  
Kate turned around to face him.  
  
"Here's the plan. You go down stairs quietly, the bathroom is the second to the right once you go down the normal stairs, not the ones to my room. Just try to act like me and avoid any and ALL contact or communication with my parents? Simple enough?"  
  
Mark, who had finally put the cloak on right, tied the strings and nodded.  
  
"All except the "acting like you part". Which one sounds more convincing?" He cleared his throat and pitched his voice higher. " 'Oh! I'm Kate! Watch me let a human into Halloweentown!' or 'I'm scary! Watch me fall out of a tree!" He waved his arms in motion of the act as Kate glared at him in distaste.  
  
"That's great, and while your downstairs, I'll stay up here and pretend to be you!" she in turn pitched her voice lower, "Look at me! I can't breathe! Help! Ah! Don't touch my books! Don't touch them!"  
  
Mark frowned, "Well, at least I know the right way to read a book!"  
  
"Well, at least I wasn't running away!"  
  
"Well, at least I don't have to fret over my "reputation"!"  
  
"Well . . . your eyes are weird."  
  
"Well . . . you have, uh, long, red, uh . . .hair." Mark countered pathetically. Kate quirked an eyebrow at him.  
  
"I have "long red hair"?" she mocked, stifling a giggle.  
  
Mark growled in frustration, "Hey, it was the only thing I could think of. Besides, what's with "your eyes are weird"?"  
  
Kate shook her head, reached up, and pulled the hood over Mark's head.  
  
"Don't you have someplace to be?" she reminded, pushing him towards the trap door. He opened it hesitantly and looked back to Kate. She sighed angrily and repeated the directions to him; with a snap of the latch, he was gone. The Pumpkin Princess sat there for a few minutes on her bed, pondering on a thought. She came to a quick decision, rolled over to the other side and reopened the backpack. She looked quickly through the book bag and noticed there were also some sketch books along with the journals. She snatched the first journal up, zipped up the backpack and held the black and white "composition" book in her hands.  
  
'It's a private thing . . . should I open it?' she thought. But curiosity won over reason and she opened the book. She observed that the pages were filled with neat, round handwriting, as she flipped through them; then she settled on the first page and began reading.  
  
*The Child  
By Mark Green*  
  
(Kate paused, was this a story or a journal?)  
  
*Many families consist of a mom, a dad, and a kid. The children, of course, can vary in number and there aren't always two parents. Some kids live with a relative, or maybe a close friend. But a family is made of people who care about each other, and love each other.  
  
Unfortunately, there are those who aren't that lucky. There are places in the world, like orphanages, were they care for kids who don't have parents. Who have no one to turn to when life throws them a nasty curve ball. They are alone. Lost in a gap only family can fill.  
  
The kids go through life thinking if they had something differently, maybe they wouldn't be where they now. Many times they sit there and talk about their families, whether they had been orphaned, abandoned, rejected, or abused, they all had a story, and they all dreamed of being adopted.  
  
Sure enough, as the years went by, all of them were. Some went to homes immediately, where others went to fosters, where the couple fell in love with them and filed for the adoption papers. Then there are the few, who aren't picked. They are bounced from home to home every three months. Just long enough for the child to start one school and then have to transfer out and begin again. This kid, this boy, never made any friends; he had given up on that a long time ago. He was shunned for not having the right clothes, listening to the right music, or even a proper family. He was seen as an outcast, a young boy banned from the social tree. So he decided to lead the long and traitorous-  
  
-Kate's head snapped up. There was a sound coming from the trap door. She shoved the book underneath her pillows and grabbed the other book (which had been at the end of her bed) and began reading it.  
  
Mark slipped through the trap door and threw off the bathrobe.  
  
"Since you're back, I'm guessing everything went well?" Kate asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Mark nodded, but then frowned.  
  
"What were *you* doing this whole time?" he asked; Kate glanced at him over the top of her book.  
  
"Reading, why?" she shot back. She wasn't *really* telling a lie . . .  
  
Mark quirked an eyebrow at her and pointed at the book.  
  
"It's upside-down again."  
  
With that he was greeted with a pillow in his face.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
D: FEEL MY RATH! FEEL MY POWA! FEEL- . . . O0o0o0o0!!! SNOW!!!! *runs outside and plays in it*  
  
K: Ignore her, we just got snowed in for two days from school.  
  
C: YAY! SNOW!!!!  
  
K: *shakes head* I don't know why I even try . . . 


End file.
